8. Ed Davis, Raptors
Fields may be the steal of the draft, but Davis might end up being the steal of the lottery. His 17-point, 12-rebound, 3-block, 3-steal performance in Dallas on Dec. 28 is one of the gems of this class thus far. I don't care that Dirk Nowitzki didn't play; Toronto was missing lots of regulars, too.

Which brings me to this: Davis has to be playing a lot for this team because he's showing that he might be a strong scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker. Although he might not end up being strong in any of those categories, the idea that he could be strong in any or all three areas is an exciting development for Raptors fans, especially considering Toronto nabbed him late in the lottery. And remember, he's months behind his fellow rookies in terms of his development because of his leg injury.

Thorpe is a very good evaluator of talent, and what he didn't hit on is that Davis seems to have a real sense of professionalism and pride in him. He wants to get better as a pro, and he understands what it takes to be a pro.
Davis, DeRozen and Bayless are the untouchables on this team.
Ship everyone else out and bring on the 10-day contracts! (only partly kidding)

Thu Jan 6th, 2011, 04:54 PM

Apollo

Ed is going to be a total stud. Amir should be sweating bullets. ;)

Thu Jan 6th, 2011, 05:16 PM

mcHAPPY

Quote:

Apollo wrote:

Ed is going to be a total stud. Amir should be sweating bullets. ;)

I disagree with Amir sweating bullets. The Raptors need one more C to set up a young and dominant PF/C rotation. This is why I wish nothing more than for the Raptors to get a JaVale McGee (i.e. young athletic defensive C).

Between injuries and different match ups throughout an NBA season there would be plenty of minutes to go around.

Bargs is 25, Amir is 23, and Davis is 21. Add one more young player <25 and you have a diverse group that can play together and compliment one another for the next 5 years.

I hate to say it as there is already a thread on this somewhere, but a healthy Greg Oden would be great. He would not be able to play huge minutes anyways. 20 minutes a game from a healhty Oden would be awesome. Probably never going to happen. Gambles sometimes do payoff though - Darko in MInny anyone?

Thu Jan 6th, 2011, 05:25 PM

Apollo

Quote:

Matt52 wrote:

a healthy Greg Oden would be great.

There is no such thing. I'd like to see Marreese Speights playing in Toronto.

Thu Jan 6th, 2011, 05:34 PM

nubreed000

Quote:

Matt52 wrote:

I disagree with Amir sweating bullets. The Raptors need one more C to set up a young and dominant PF/C rotation. This is why I wish nothing more than for the Raptors to get a JaVale McGee (i.e. young athletic defensive C).

Between injuries and different match ups throughout an NBA season there would be plenty of minutes to go around.

Bargs is 25, Amir is 23, and Davis is 21. Add one more young player <25 and you have a diverse group that can play together and compliment one another for the next 5 years.

I hate to say it as there is already a thread on this somewhere, but a healthy Greg Oden would be great. He would not be able to play huge minutes anyways. 20 minutes a game from a healhty Oden would be awesome. Probably never going to happen. Gambles sometimes do payoff though - Darko in MInny anyone?

Personally I think we need an older centre to guide the young guys along. A no-nonsense kind of guy like Oakley was back in the day, although I can't think of anyone like that in the league right now.

Man, Stern really did a great job pansifying this league.

Thu Jan 6th, 2011, 08:55 PM

Joey

Chandler would have been PERFECT for Davis' development. For him to see that passion and energy everynight could only be contagious for a young cat like him.

On another note, Apollo mentioned Marreese Speights, and I've been very high on him for some time now, but whats going on with this numbers this year? Not what I expected to see.
I still agree that he would fit right in with this team, but perhaps if Davis can put 25lbs of DwightHoward on him, we could just put him at the 5. He's already leading the team in blocks, and rebounds per48. (I may have made that up? Not sure.)

On ANOTHER side note, Greg Oden is more Fragile then Humpty Dumpty and Butterflies.

Thu Jan 6th, 2011, 11:07 PM

Hotshot

2009 draft will be remembered for all the great point guards that were drafted (Rubio, Flynn, Curry, Jennings, Holiday, Collison, Lawson and Beaubois )

2010 draft will be remembered for all the great big men that were drafted (Favors, Cousins , Monroe, Davis, and Patterson)

Fri Jan 7th, 2011, 01:00 AM

Buddahfan

Aminu will be better than Davis.

You can bank on it.

You can watch the Clippers led by Blake and EJ at the ACC on Feb 13th.;)

Fri Jan 7th, 2011, 02:15 AM

JoePanini

Quote:

Buddahfan wrote:

Aminu will be better than Davis.

You can bank on it.

You can watch the Clippers led by Blake and EJ at the ACC on Feb 13th.;)

I disagree. He would have been better, but the Clippers are ruining him. He used to be an inside presence and a prolific rebounder. Now he hits threes. Davis can become great, one day he might even lead the league in rebounds and blocks. I don't think Aminu will.

Fri Jan 7th, 2011, 10:33 AM

J-Roc

We need ED to be good enough to cover for Bargnani on the defensive end of the floor. That's the only way both play together. Otherwise ED's only a backup. Hopefully he has it in him because he does have defensive instincts we're not used to seeing in Raps players.

Fri Jan 7th, 2011, 03:47 PM

Joey

Hah, J-Roc, you wickety-wickety whack. nawmsayin. nawmsayin? Wizoooord.
But yes I agree Ed has shown above average defensive insticts, and I think he'll be a solid starter.

Fri Jan 7th, 2011, 07:20 PM

Buddahfan

Actually I know it is knit picking but Thorpe like a lot of people uses the term "steal" incorrectly.

To steal something is not only to take what doesn't belong to you but it involves taking something that most people would think you wouldn't take before you actually stole it. Though the second condition is not a necessary condition to "steal" something.

So in the case of drafting basketball players.

Davis was available at #13 however most people figured that the Raptors would take him at that point since he was still available so they were not not stealing anything. To say that no one figured he would fall to #13 does not mean the Raptors stole him, because you have to take possession of something in order to have stolen it. So the "stealing" if it were to occur would have to happen at the moment that the pick was made irrespective of whether or not people thought before the draft that that player would be available at that pick.

An example of "stealing" someone in the draft would be to draft someone that no one expected to be drafted that high and then the player turned out to better than "most" everyone else taken after him.

So Davis was not the steal of the lottery because by the time the Raptors actually drafted him almost everyone thought that Davis would be the Raptors pick.

In looking at the actual lottery picks it appears that there was no "steals" in the 2010 draft among the lottery picks: i.e. that there was no lottery pick that was not expected to go as high as they did at the time that they were actually picked and is playing better than every lottery pick after him.

Sat Jan 8th, 2011, 12:17 AM

Apollo

In the sports world I thought it was pretty commonly accepted that when discussing the draft, "steal" means drafting a guy who is worth far more than one would expect to get at their current draft position. Just as when someone gets a below market price for a car typical commentary would be "wow, you got a total steal on that car."

Sat Jan 8th, 2011, 06:14 AM

JoePanini

Quote:

Buddahfan wrote:

Actually I know it is knit picking but Thorpe like a lot of people uses the term "steal" incorrectly.

To steal something is not only to take what doesn't belong to you but it involves taking something that most people would think you wouldn't take before you actually stole it. Though the second condition is not a necessary condition to "steal" something.

So in the case of drafting basketball players.

Davis was available at #13 however most people figured that the Raptors would take him at that point since he was still available so they were not not stealing anything. To say that no one figured he would fall to #13 does not mean the Raptors stole him, because you have to take possession of something in order to have stolen it. So the "stealing" if it were to occur would have to happen at the moment that the pick was made irrespective of whether or not people thought before the draft that that player would be available at that pick.

An example of "stealing" someone in the draft would be to draft someone that no one expected to be drafted that high and then the player turned out to better than "most" everyone else taken after him.

So Davis was not the steal of the lottery because by the time the Raptors actually drafted him almost everyone thought that Davis would be the Raptors pick.

In looking at the actual lottery picks it appears that there was no "steals" in the 2010 draft among the lottery picks: i.e. that there was no lottery pick that was not expected to go as high as they did at the time that they were actually picked and is playing better than every lottery pick after him.

Ed Davis was a steal, considering what the 12 players picked ahead of him have been able to do.

Sat Jan 8th, 2011, 01:08 PM

Buddahfan

Quote:

Apollo wrote:

In the sports world I thought it was pretty commonly accepted that when discussing the draft, "steal" means drafting a guy who is worth far more than one would expect to get at their current draft position. Just as when someone gets a below market price for a car typical commentary would be "wow, you got a total steal on that car."

Just because it is commonly accepted does not mean that it is correct. Geez

For centuries it was commonly accepted that the world was flat.

For decades it was commonly accepted that cocaine was good for you. Where do you think the name Coca Cola comes?

Ed Davis was a steal, considering what the 12 players picked ahead of him have been able to do.

Davis was not a steal.

Get over it.

He was a mistake by about a half a dozen teams that drafted ahead of the Raptors but didn't take him.

BC was smart enough not to make the same dumb mistake.

BC and the Raptors did not get a steal in him.

They benefited by other GMs stupidity.

Sat Jan 8th, 2011, 01:17 PM

Joey

Quote:

Buddahfan wrote:

Actually I know it is knit picking but Thorpe like a lot of people uses the term "steal" incorrectly.

To steal something is not only to take what doesn't belong to you but it involves taking something that most people would think you wouldn't take before you actually stole it. Though the second condition is not a necessary condition to "steal" something.

So in the case of drafting basketball players.

Davis was available at #13 however most people figured that the Raptors would take him at that point since he was still available so they were not not stealing anything. To say that no one figured he would fall to #13 does not mean the Raptors stole him, because you have to take possession of something in order to have stolen it. So the "stealing" if it were to occur would have to happen at the moment that the pick was made irrespective of whether or not people thought before the draft that that player would be available at that pick.

An example of "stealing" someone in the draft would be to draft someone that no one expected to be drafted that high and then the player turned out to better than "most" everyone else taken after him.

So Davis was not the steal of the lottery because by the time the Raptors actually drafted him almost everyone thought that Davis would be the Raptors pick.

In looking at the actual lottery picks it appears that there was no "steals" in the 2010 draft among the lottery picks: i.e. that there was no lottery pick that was not expected to go as high as they did at the time that they were actually picked and is playing better than every lottery pick after him.

Yaa... Sorry Buddah this just reads like a whole lot of BS. haha Apollo nailed it.
Thorpe mentions Fields as the steal of the draft. A second round pick FAR exceding his perceived value prior to draft night.
In hindsight, Fields would have been drafted maybe 5th or 6th. Not 50th.
Thus the Knicks 'stole' him from the 50 teams that could have had him, and likely would have taken him, had they 'known'.

Ed Davis being the 'steal of the Lottery', means that in hindsight, of all Lottery Picks, Ed Davis would have likely been selected much higher then 13th among them.
Thus the Raptors 'stole' him from the 12 teams that could have had him to themselves.

Y'dig?

Sat Jan 8th, 2011, 04:04 PM

Apollo

Quote:

Buddahfan wrote:

Just because it is commonly accepted does not mean that it is correct. Geez

For centuries it was commonly accepted that the world was flat.

For decades it was commonly accepted that cocaine was good for you. Where do you think the name Coca Cola comes?

I'll take the majority rule on this one and saying that your definition is wrong...

Quote:

joey_hesketh wrote:

Yaa... Sorry Buddah this just reads like a whole lot of BS. haha Apollo nailed it.
Thorpe mentions Fields as the steal of the draft. A second round pick FAR exceding his perceived value prior to draft night.
In hindsight, Fields would have been drafted maybe 5th or 6th. Not 50th.
Thus the Knicks 'stole' him from the 50 teams that could have had him, and likely would have taken him, had they 'known'.

Ed Davis being the 'steal of the Lottery', means that in hindsight, of all Lottery Picks, Ed Davis would have likely been selected much higher then 13th among them.
Thus the Raptors 'stole' him from the 12 teams that could have had him to themselves.

Y'dig?

I agree 100%

Tue Jan 11th, 2011, 10:46 AM

Apollo

I picked up Davis in the RR fantasy league a couple weeks ago. Just looking at some stats over the past 14 days. 7PPG, 6REB, 2BLK, 1 STL and close to 60% FG. That's an impressive stat line for a guy who is only averaging 22 minutes over those two weeks. He's also, for the most part, playing within himself as he's not turning the ball over often and with the exception of the odd game he's not been getting into foul trouble.